Dominican and Haiti Updates

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him -- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

After about a 3-month blog draught, we figured it was time to update all of you who have been so faithful and supportive in our ministry. After a successful and re-energizing visit to the States, we began the summer madness of groups, groups and more groups. From June 12 through August 23, we will have 21 groups come down to serve in the Dominican Republic and Haiti through short-term missions. Construction, VBS, Medical, On-going training for pastors, Sports Clinics, Men/Women Conferences....you name it, we are doing it this summer. Like in 1 Corinthians 2; our eyes, ears nor our minds can even fathom what God is going to do through his people this summer, but His Spirit is moving and He is showing us how His plans are much bigger than our 10-week summer plan. Here are just few things that we have experienced so far.

To kick off Summer '07, we had 3 groups come during the same week. One of them is from our home church in Dalton, GA. They came 28 people strong and ready to help construct the church in Hoyo del Bartola and do puppet show ministry with kids in different areas. After moving sand, cement, block and gravel for three days, their hearts were left in the church with Pastor Felix and the community in "the Hole".

Dalton Crew praying for over Pastor Felix and his family

As we've said before, it's such a blessing to see familiar faces here in the D.R. Audrey's mom, dad and brother-in-law were able to make the trip with Dalton. It also allowed us to get to know the new members of one of our home churches. For those who are capable, it's wonderful to have faithful supporters come down and see what God is doing with their prayers and financial gifts. It hasn't changed, He's still hard at work here.

For those of us who are fans of March Madness......this past week we just had our G.O. Ministries/Dominican Republic version of that beautiful time of year. BASKETBALL CAMP 2007. We expanded to 5 courts this year with 200 kids. We've often wondered if there was any room to grow after last year, but we learned not to put God in a box. His Spirit moved and provided another court and 40 more kids. This year was such a smooth transition into bigger and better things for our sports ministry. All of the kids were on time, well-behaved and very responsive to the messages that were being shared through the Americans, Dominicans and Haitians involved in the camp. Audrey, Pedro and I have the privilege of working with these kids year-round and for the first time, we felt what it might be like to be a proud parent. We've been constistantly praying that these kids would learn discipline in their daily lives and we saw signs of it this week. When something seems impossible, God reminds us that He wants it even more than we do.

Every morning of camp we begin with praise and worship and a message from either an American on the trip or a Dominican Pastor. At the end of the week, there is an altar call for those seeking to know more about a relationship with Jesus. Every year, it's amazing to see how many kids are searching. This year, there was something different, something that gave a whole new perspective on short-term missions. This year, when it was time to raise your hand and say, "I want to know YOU more Jesus", one of the American team members raised his hand. As we go on mission trips, we often think we're going to deliver the message in a powerful way to people who are lacking, but some times we forget that God wants to work in our lives while we're serving Him as well. It brought us to our knees as it reminded us that there are broken hearts and lives EVERYWHERE that are in need of a Savior. Praise God for revealing Himself to us through the Holy Spirit.

We could go on and on about the camp in detail, but instead we encourage you to watch the video that one of our staff members made when the week ended. It explains it all through song and pictures. Please enjoy the pictures below and hit the youtube link when you're ready to experience the week. Just click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOlP3UZKmTg .

Thank you for sharing in the lives of the Dominicans and Haitians. Expect more updates more often.

In Love with Jesus,

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Will and Audrey